


Timing is Everything

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Tumblr Prompt, and Cadbury are a secret arm of Hydra, in which crushes are revealed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-03-30 14:13:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3939814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I was given the prompt "Simmons telling Fitz that she had a massive crush on him back at the Academy or an Au where they have classes together and accidentally switch notebooks and there are notes about them inside." This is sort of a bit of both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Timing is Everything

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aretsuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aretsuna/gifts).



> Big shout out to [notapepper](http://archiveofourown.org/users/notapepper/pseuds/notapepper) for helping me out with the handwriting. I was having no luck in making the two sets look different, and she went above and beyond to get me what I needed :D

"What's all this then?" Fitz asked with a frown, unable to enter the lab because of all of the boxes in his way. 

"Oh, Fitz," Jemma looked up and smiled enthusiastically. Her smile waned after a moment as she watched him carefully maneuver his way into the room. "Sorry about the mess," she apologized. "But my mum sent over those files I was telling you about!" Her eyes lit up again as she dove back into the box she'd been investigating.

Fitz's eyes lit up in return. "With your notes on bioremediation?" he asked excitedly, tripping over one box and then vaulting over another. 

"Yes!" she said, pulling yet more books out of the box. "But I can't find them  _anywhere_."

Fitz took in the sheer number of notebooks now populating every available surface in the lab. "How many notes did you  _take_ at the Academy?" he asked, simultaneously appalled and impressed. 

Jemma shrugged. "I like to be thorough," she said, a bit defensively. 

Fitz blew out a breath and ran a hand along the back of his neck. "Understatement," he whispered to himself. This was going to take all afternoon.

"Be nice," Jemma warned him. "Or I won't share the snacks she sent along with them."

"Snacks?" Fitz asked, perking up considerably. 

Jemma tossed him a Freddo and grinned. "There's more where that came from if you help me sort these out."

Fitz grinned back. "Do you even have to ask?" he said expansively. He was just about to rip open the package when he caught sight of the price. " _20p_!" he exploded. "That's downright _criminal_!" _  
_

\----------------------

" _Fitz_!" Jemma groaned in exasperation and hour later. "Will you just--" she threw up her hands. "Cadbury's are  _not_ Hydra!" she half-shouted. "Let it go!"

"They've doubled the price, Jemma!" he half-shouted back. " _Doubled it!_ " He threw up his own hands in a mockery of her gesture. "In five years! If that's not the work of an evil organization..." _  
_

"Fine," she conceded. "They're  _evil_ " she finger-quoted. "That doesn't mean they're Hydra, though. I mean, what would Hydra even _do_ with a food company?"

"Put... some kind of... evil... stuff?... in the food?" Fitz said without much conviction. 

"Evil  _stuff_ ," Jemma nodded. "Right. I'll keep an eye out for it. Now if we could get back to the task at hand?"

\----------------------

Fitz flipped through yet another notebook full of Jemma's loopy handwriting. He couldn't believe how  _girly_ it had been back then. Of course, she'd been a teenager at the time, but knowing her now... It was kind of funny. 

His eyes scanned a few pages looking for key words and blinked when he saw his own name. 

Then he blushed when he read what it said. 

And grinned when he realized what that meant. 

"Jemma?" he asked, trying hard to keep the laughter out of his voice. 

"Mmhmm?" she answered, absorbed in a notebook of her own. 

"I found something interesting here, if you want to take a look."

"Finally!" she smiled triumphantly, reaching out to take the offered notebook. 

As her eyes dropped down to the page, her face flushed scarlet. "Oh!" she gasped, holding the book up and burying her head in it. "Oh God," she moaned. 

"Drs. Leo and Jemma Fitz-Simmons?" Fitz asked mildly as a grin spread across his face. 

"Oh God," Jemma moaned again.

"Something you wanted to tell me?" he teased. 

"It was first year!" Jemma whined. "I had no idea what sort of a wanker you'd end up being," she grinned, tossing the notebook into the discard pile. 

"You had a _crush_ on me," Fitz sang out, poking her in the ribs. "Didn't you?"

She scooted away from his finger and pouted. "Everyone's allowed to make mistakes!" She stuck out her tongue at him for good measure.

He nodded with an understanding look on his face. "And getting over me was yours," he agreed. "Don't worry, Jemma," he reached out to pat her shoulder. "I'm here for you."

"What's wrong with Simmons?" Skye asked, weaving her way into the room. She looked warily from one scientist to the other, not sure she was ready to hear whatever it was. 

" _Nothing_!" Jemma insisted, smiling wanly at Skye.

"She's regretting past mistakes," Fitz explained, grabbing Simmons in a side-hug and chucking her lightly under the chin. "But don't worry, we're here for you."

"Oh, Jemma!" Skye said, making her way over to give her friend a hug. "We can fix this! Whatever it is!"

Jemma pushed her off - gently, because really this was all Fitz's fault. "There's nothing to fix," she said in an overly calm voice. "Fitz is just being silly."

"Fitz?" Skye asked, raising a brow and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

His face exploded in a grin again as he picked up the tell-tale notebook and passed it over.

Skye's brow wrinkled in confusion and then smoothed out again as she read the page presented to her. "Jemma Simmons, you slut!" she said excitedly, slapping her on the back. "You liked Fitz!"

Jemma sighed. It was going to be one of  _those_ days.

\----------------------

Jemma slumped exhausted into her bunk. If  _one more person_ commented on her ancient crush on Fitz, she'd... 

Well, if she were honest, she'd probably just keep it all bottled up and work on that ulcer she was brewing.

That'd show them. 

She allowed herself a small smile, though, as she thought back to those days at the Academy when she'd desperately tried not to show her crush while simultaneously desperately wanting to ask him out on a date. She covered her face with her hands as she remembered her own abysmal attempts at flirting and Fitz's total cluelessness about what was going on. 

If she'd been better at dropping hints, would he have picked them up? If they'd dated back at the Academy, would they be working together now? She blushed as she realized she was pondering the various merits and demerits of kissing Fitz. Or, to be more specific,  _not_ kissing him. 

She pursed her lips together thoughtfully as she contemplated what kissing him might be like. 

His lips looked to be quite soft. That would be nice. The stubble he'd been sporting lately might be scratchy, though. And now that his hair was shorter, there wouldn't be as much to run her fingers through, but...

Her contemplations were interrupted by a knock on her door. 

"Hey," Fitz greeted her, peeking hesitantly around the door. 

"Hey," she smiled back, nodding at him to come in. 

"Look," he said, shrugging his shoulders and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Sorry about all the teasing today."

"It's okay," she forgave him. "I'd have done the same thing if I'd found out you'd had a crush on me back then."

His expression changed from apologetic to guilty. 

"Fitz?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Well..." he said, brows raising up self-consciously. "Now that you mention it..."

"No!" she said, totally shocked.

He nodded. "Yep."

"When?"

"The first time was before we met," he winced. 

"The first time?"

"Yeah," he nodded again. "But that's just because you were really smart and pretty," he blushed.

Her eyes widened in surprise again, and she blushed as well. "Thank you," she said weakly. 

"And the second time was after our third term," he continued. "That holiday in France?"

"Oh!" she gasped. They'd shared a room to save on expenses. That explained why he'd insisted on sleeping on the floor even though they'd had a queen-sized bed.

"And anyway," he pulled an old notebook out of his back pocket. It was just a small sketch pad, the kind he used to doodle out ideas before making the real sketch. "I thought I kind of owed you this," he held it out to her awkwardly, open to a page.

Jemma reached out slowly to take it from him, anticipating what it might be. She smiled when she saw that she was right.

 

"Drs. Leo and Jemma Fitz-Simmons?" she asked, chuckling softly.

"Great minds think alike?" he shrugged. 

"They certainly do," she agreed.

\----------------------

Skye knocked softly on Jemma's door and opened it quietly. "Hey..." she started with an apologetic tone. She'd probably taken the teasing a bit far today, and she wanted to make sure she and Simmons were still tight.

She stopped short, eyes wide. That was _not_ what she expected to walk in on. "Sorry!" she blurted before turning around and slamming the door closed behind her. 

Her face gradually broke out into a huge grin, and she opened the door a crack to say one last thing.

"Jemma Simmons, you slut!"


End file.
